A 35-year-old man who allegedly stole two cars and led police on a cross-town chase on Friday has been taken into custody.
Anthony Conway’s crime spree began shortly before 9 a.m. on E 41st Street, according to police spokeswoman Renee Oistad. After gaining access to a garage, Conway was confronted by the homeowner. Conway sprayed bear spray at the homeowner and fled.
At 9:31 a.m., police were notified that a vehicle had been stolen through physical force on E 42nd Avenue, a block away from the first incident.
“A woman’s out there, she’s brushing off her car, it’s warming it up…he comes up and whatever he says… she realizes that he means business,” Oistad explained. “She backs up, so he jumps in this car and he takes off with it.”
Police were called later about a similar attack on the 2500 block of Crestwood Street at 12:40 p.m. A 93-year-old woman was cleaning off her blue Buick Roadster when a man approached her and pushed her to the ground.
The description of the suspect given by the woman matched what the other victims told police, later identified as Conway, Oistad said. She said police also found the first vehicle abandoned a few houses away from where he stole the Buick.
Oistad said Conway was finally located thanks to “awesome citizens” who reported seeing the stolen Buick at various locations. Police were able to locate him at 15th Avenue and I Street and followed him to Raspberry Road and C Street. They attempted to stop him by forcing him off the road, but Conway managed to escape.
“We called off the pursuit at that time,” Oistad said. “In the meantime, we’re getting all these calls from people about this erratic driver, and we figure out it’s the same guy.”
She said they found him again on the east side of Anchorage. Police pursued him onto the Glenn Highway, where they were able to force him off the road into the median. Conway then took off on foot across the westbound lanes of the highway and was finally caught in a stand of trees at the Boniface Parkway on-ramp.
Oistad noted that several people called Anchorage police to report damage to their vehicles police believe was caused by Conway while driving the stolen vehicles. No one reported any injuries.
Police are continuing their investigation into the incidents, and will forward charges against Conway to prosecutors.
